The Best Jelly Doughnut With a Side of Crackerjacks

A couple of weeks ago an ELE reader reported on the donuts at the Bouchon Bakery (Time-Warner Center, Broadway bet. 59th and 60th Sts., 3rd Fl., 212-823-9366). The reader posted that the BB donuts were really good, but they were only available on the weekends after noon.

Two weeks ago, I went to Bouchon Bakery around 1 p.m.hoping to score some doughnuts. The counter person said that no donuts were going to be forthcoming from the kitchen that day. Try back next weekend, she said. I was bitterly disappointed, and I drowned my sorrows in a bag of phenomenal homemade crackerjacks. The caramel corn was made with just sweet enough caramel, and the candied nuts were sensational. It didn't come with a prize, and I believe it was $4.50 for a small bag, but let's face it, a box of crackerjacks would cost you that much at a ballgame, and the prizes are usually worthless to an adult.

The following weekend I once again tried to score some donuts. Success! I scored two filled doughnuts. One was chocolate-covered and filled with custard, and the other was a jelly doughnut.

Both doughnuts blew me away. Both were extraordinarily light, moist, and had the correct filling to dough ratio. The chocolate was serious chocolate, as was the jam. These doughnuts were so good I might never be able to eat commercial quality filled doughnuts again. Which I guess is a good thing. These doughnuts are $3.50, but worth every penny.

I did have one Bouchon Bakery item a month ago that was not sensational. An $8.50 caramel apple was utterly ordinary, overpriced, and ill-conceived (it had chocolate squiggles on it). But two (crackerjacks and donuts) out of three ain't bad.